That is really cool, did they ever share their cultural food with you? I have a pelmeni mold and I bake piroshky occasionally.

I read a book about Russian vampires in middle school. The main character was a half vampire Bodyguard for her bestie, a vampire Russian Princess. I seriously thought it was the coolest thing ever and became obsessed with Russia 😅 I never met a Russian until my early adult years and he was our "crazy Russian friend" since his favorite pastime was buying any and every animal off craigslist for cheap and butchering it to eat. I've had half-hearted attempts over the years but I think Duolingo has improved their Russian language course a lot to the point I can actually retain knowledge and sound things out. Most of my vocabulary has come from music though